pgvector extension not available in PostgreSQL service
benson-xub
HOBBYOP

3 months ago

I want add pgvector extension in my current PostgreSQL. i tried to add pgvector extension meet this issue. Could you help me take a look.

ERROR: extension "vector" is not available
DETAIL: Could not open extension control file "/usr/share/postgresql/17/extension/vector.control": No such file or directory.
Service Details:
- Service Name: pgvector
- Service ID: pgvector-production-9978
- PostgreSQL Version: 17.7
- Status: Online
Request:
Could you please install the pgvector extension files on this PostgreSQL service? The extension should be available at:
/usr/share/postgresql/17/extension/vector.control

Thank you for your help!

Best regards,
Benson
$10 Bounty

3 Replies

Railway
BOT

3 months ago

Hey there! We've found the following might help you get unblocked faster:

If you find the answer from one of these, please let us know by solving the thread!

enlorik
HOBBY

3 months ago

The error

ERROR:  extension “vector” is not available

DETAIL:  Could not open extension control file “/usr/share/postgresql/17/extension/vector.control”: No such file or directory.

means the pgvector extension is not installed on the PostgreSQL server that Railway is running for this database. On a managed Postgres service you can only enable extensions that are already present on the server; you can’t install new ones yourself, so CREATE EXTENSION vector; will always fail on this instance.

To use pgvector on Railway you need to move to a Postgres instance that has pgvector available. Typical approach:

  1. Create a new Postgres service that includes pgvector support (for example Railway’s pgvector template or a pgvector-enabled Postgres image).

  2. Migrate your data from the current database to the new one (e.g. pg_dump from the old DATABASE_URL, restore into the new DB).

  3. Point your application at the new database URL.

  4. Run:
    CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS vector;

on the new database. On that pgvector-enabled instance, the command will succeed because the vector extension files are actually installed.

enlorik
HOBBY

3 months ago

If this solved it for you, you can mark it as the accepted solution so the thread is closed properly.

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